Guest User
February 14, 2023
AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Never pay for tours in advance with this company. Their employee BARAKA committed a massive fraud against us. We had a 2 day hiking tour organised by BARAKA. BARAKA took our money (USD460 each) and assured us we could do the 2 day hiking tour we asked for and described in detail on kilimanjaro. The entire thing was a disaster, he changed almost ever single thing that we agreed, often to things we had specifically said beforehand that we did not want. He didn't tell us about the changes until we were a few kms up the mountain and couldn't argue and then refused to refund us a single cent or even apologise. Horrendous communication throughout, even by local standards. They basically sold us a tour not allowed by the national park service, and when they realised their error, rather than telling us and presenting options, he changed everything about our trip without speaking to us, spending our money on things we specifically said we didn't want. SUMMARY OF LIES Promised: Pick up 7am. Actual: Picked up 9.30am Promised: 1 hour 10 minute transfer Actual: over 3 hour transfer Promised: Start Hiking 8.30am. Actual: Started at 2pm (For the whole 3 extra hours we were sitting at the gate waiting to leave noone told us what the problem was despite us asking multiple times) Promised: Sleep at Horombo Huts Actual: Slept at Mandara huts (Horombo huts is above the treeline, has views of one of the peaks, has views of the entire valley and an uninterrupted view of the night sky as well as sunset and ability to walk to zebra rocks and peak view for sunrise, this is why we picked it. .. Mandara has none of this) Promised: Day one a 21km hike, Day two a 24km hike. Actual: Day one a 8km Hike, Day two a 37km hike. Promised: circular route (Up Marango route, stay at Horombo and return by Machame exit route). Delivered: Up and down on the same path, with obvious lies given as reasons. Bonus Problems: The guide blamed everything on Baraka, Baraka blamed everything on the guide. Bonus problems: On the final day, we finishing our lunch had to look for our guide, who had disappeared. When we found him, at 4.30pm, he told us that we MUST be out of the national park gate by 6pm or be locked in (a lie, he would be charge a fine). From where we were, it is a 2 hour walk (8.5km and 1,000m downhill) back to the gate and he tells us this information 1.5 hours before the deadline (after we had to find him). So we basically had to run the last 8.5km after we have already walked 28km. He was with us all day and never mention this important piece of information until 4.30pm. BARAKA, should be ashamed of himself. A dishonest person who wants other people to pay for his incompetence.